Rejection
by Lucy Labrador
Summary: Seriously injured and in relentless agony, Shadow seeks help from the very people he saved. Surely he won't face rejection. One-shot.


**Rejection**

Heavy breaths came from the exhausted hedgehog, giving it his all for the human race. This fight went on too long, his golden fur was matted with sweat and dirt, and his body covered with minor cuts and large bruises. Surrendering still wasn't an option.

This is what he got for defying his master, his very creator. Black Doom warned him of the consequences but Shadow went ahead regardless. He cared more about Maria's remembered wish more than his own safety.

Doom, now in the form of Devil Doom, was giving Shadow quite a beating without even making contact with him. The telekinetic powers proved to be quite a shock to Shadow, not expecting them he'd failed to dodge at the beginning of the battle, hence the injuries.

With blood and sweat dripping down his forehead, Shadow sent chaos spears and expelled chaos blasts from his battered body. A previous 'death' was remembered by the determined fighter, he knew what was very likely to happen if he were to use too much of his energy but it was the only way to defeat the hideous monster.

To think, that he had the same blood as it. Black Doom, unbelievably, was his 'father', his biological parent. The hedgehog was sickened to think that the sordid DNA of Black Doom was flowing through his own veins.

The wings of the monstrosity were hanging off due to the precision of Shadow's spear attacks. The skirmish was coming to an end, but that only meant an attack of immense force was needed to finish the job. Shadow aimed for the eye one last time.

"Chaos… SPEAR!"

The shot impacted the eye, right in the centre. The large creature gave an agonised roar and began to fall to the ground many miles below. Shadow could feel himself becoming drained, but there was still an alien comet to destroy.

Rushing to the surface of the earth, Shadow began to feel even more light headed than before. His wounds stung as he cut through the cold air on his way down. At least he wasn't burning like the last time. The aching anthrop used up remaining bursts of his chaos energy to transport the comet to space where it could be reached easily by the eclipse cannon.

By now, Shadow's super form was failing him, flashing from gold to black just as he reached the inside of the ARK. It was a close call but he was safely inside. Time to make his way to the eclipse cannon control room, which he had to crawl through as he was so feeble and in pain.

With the last of his strength he pulled his body up with his aching muscles to reach the control panel and pressed fire. His job was done, he could relax. His body beaten and almost defeated, fell to the floor. Black Doom's words echoed in Shadow's head as he slowly fell into unconsciousness. 'You were created with my blood.'

With a blurry site he looked at his hands, covered with his own blood… and the blood was green, just like his father's. It was undeniable, he was nothing more than black arms spawn.

Agony and bitter cold is what woke Shadow up. Tears began to fall from his eyes and sobs got caught in his throat. It felt as though he was internal injuries as well as external grazes. Nothing he could heal, and it was unbearable, even for the ultimate life form.

Surely, after all he had done for those humans, they would help him in his time of desperate need. After all, if it wasn't for Shadow, they would all be slaves or dead. So, without a doubt, Shadow did chaos control to take him to a place the humans called 'hospital' in the search of medical assistance. Surely he wouldn't be rejected.

It was a risk, his chaos levels were dangerously low, but he'd rather be put into a deep coma than to be in this pain. The transport didn't send him into a coma, only gave him a stronger headache, it felt as though his heart was thumping in his head. His vision was skewed and distorted by the aches and pains all over and inside of his body.

Stumbling down the busy halls, the hedgehog was breathing shakily. He reached a panicking nurse and collapsed in front of her. Shadow hated to admit that he needed help, but there was sensibility within him, it was the right thing to do. On his hands and knees, he begged. "Please…" he rasped.

The nurse called for a higher ranked doctor to deal with the crippled hedgehog. A tall man walked over, there were spots of blood his white coat, he looked stressed. It was late at night and the hospital was packed. There were thousands of injured patients flooding in after the alien invasion, the building was in chaos. "Please…" Shadow mumbled again.

Several humans in bandages and plasters, and many nurses and doctors all turned to see the hedgehog on the floor. There, was a helpless and needy hedgehog but they didn't see him that way. To them, he was a monster, he was Shadow the Hedgehog, a weapon of mass destruction. The man in charge saw the looks of distress on everyone's face and looked down at Shadow unsurely.

"You need to leave," the man said shamefully. Shadow looked up in shock. The doctor saw the blood dripping down the side of the hedgehog's head.

"But… I'm hurt, I need help," Shadow said through gritted teeth.

"We have other… priorities." he hesitated, not wanting to tell Shadow the truth as to why he had to leave.

"But… I'm Shadow the _fucking_ hedgehog. I saved the world… I saved you all," Shadow hissed. He looked at the other patients, who shuffled back as they were looked at by the hedgehog, "Most of these people aren't even that hurt."

"We don't want to be in the same building as black arms spawn," the someone from the crowd shouted. "Get him out of here!" Shadow looked at the palms of his hands, his gloves stained with his own blood, green _Black Arms blood_. Rubbing the side of his head and looking at his hand again, he saw fresh blood, still that same shade of sickening lime green. Still undeniable.

The battered hero crawled over to the wall and pulled himself up. Out of the door, he limped and collapsed again outside. Completely ignored by humans around him, he rolled off onto the grass and hid in the rotting bushes. After all he had done and all of the pain he was in, he faced rejection. A shade loomed over him, Shadow looked up with squinted eyes to see that same doctor. The dark hedgehog looked to the ground, not wanting to make eye contact with him. "Come with me around the back… I can help you," he said. Deep red eyes widened at the statement, the hedgehog's mouth gaped open.

The needful creature was cradled into the man's arms and carried to the back of the building to be tended to secretly. "I'm sorry to say that many people are prejudiced, they don't understand. As a trained doctor it's my duty to help all that walk through the door but I had to get you to leave… because of them."

"I… understand." Shadow's words were slightly slurred but comprehensible.

"I just couldn't let you go in that state though… I'm glad you didn't walk off," he continued as he turned the corner around the building, reaching the back entrance. The man pushed the door open with his foot to reveal a dimly lit hallway. Shadow was carried down the corridor and into a small room and gently placed onto a chair in the corner.

It was then, the light turned on the man began examining Shadow and patching up his wounds and giving him pain relief "Thank you," Shadow sighed as he closed his eyes, relaxing more as the pain melted away.

**Thanks to explodinghead, Qwisse and Lord Kelvin for the constructive criticism. **

**Lucy Labrador**


End file.
